Make clay nature weaving hearts
Making a clay nature weaving heart is a really simple activity to do and it's a lovely way of displaying some of the flowers and foliage that's in season at the moment. These hearts also make a really sweet gift!
We have done some nature weaving activities before using cardboard as a base, but we wanted to create something we could use again and again as the seasons change so decided to use air-dry clay.
What you will need:
Air-dry clay
Rolling pin or glass bottle
Cookie cutters or clay cutting tool/knife
Baking paper / greaseproof paper
Bamboo skewer or a sharpened pencil
Twine or ribbon for hanging
Elastic thread or elastic bands
A drinking straw
Beads (optional)
What you need to do:
Take a chunk of air dry clay and knead it for a minute to warm it up. It’s best to work on a hard, smooth surface. If you find that your clay is sticking to your surface, you can line the rolling area with baking paper.
Roll out your clay with your rolling pin or glass bottle, turning the clay 90 degrees every so often so that the clay is rolled evenly. You want it to be about 1/2 cm thick.
Then use your heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out your hearts.
Gently pull away the clay around the hearts.
Using a drinking straw, make a hole in the top of the heart.
If your heart is a little rough around the bottom edges where it has been cut, just use a finger to smooth away the excess clay.
Then use a bamboo skewer to make some notches in the sides of the hearts. I just gently pushed the side of the skewer against the edge of the heart. You can also use a pencil for this if you don’t have a skewer. These notches help keep your thread in place when you weave your foliage and flowers.
Leave your hearts to dry on lined tray or board. Let them dry for 24 hours, then turn and dry for another 24 hours.
Once completely dry, loop some ribbon or twine through the hole for hanging. We added some beads to ours before we tied the knot.
Then wind some elastic thread around the heart, through the notches, and tie at the back. You could use elastic bands instead of the elastic thread - the small elastic bands that hold together bunches of spring onions or daffodils would be perfect for this!
Now your hearts are ready for weaving!
First gather your nature supplies on a walk or from your garden. Even though it’s February, we found that there are still so many different types of foliage and grasses and dried seed heads to pick!
Now you can weave your nature items through the elastic! It’s good to have each piece secured under the elastic at two points to stop it slipping or rotating. Once you have finished you can hang your beautiful heart!
Author: Denise Hope, home educating mum of two boys